All,

Presently, I have the following equipment feeding into my Pioneer Elite PRO-FHD1 via a Monoprice 5x1 HDMI switcher:

HD DVD Player: Toshiba HD-XA2
Blu-ray Disc Player: Pioneer Elite BDP-HD1 (this I am actually running directly into my display to work-around a 1080p/24Hz issue I have with Monoprice switcher)
Region-Free Player: Oppo DV-981HD
Satellite Receiver: DirecTV HR20-700

Currently, the HR20-700 is the weakest link, especially when watching SD broadcasts. Video processeors are a new area for me, and, while I have generally heard there is only so much that can be done with a bad source (i.e. DirecTV's SD feeds), I am wondering at what point would there be any benefit to adding a video processor into my setup? Will an entry-level unit like the Gefen Home Theater Scaler make a big enough difference with SD broadcasts to warrant a purchased, or are the feeds from DirecTV beyond hope? Would a more expensive video processor be able to do more with a poor feed, or would I be 'throwing away' my money?

Any input is appreciated.

Thanks.

I have a simular situation with my DN dvr and what I did was get a low cost scaler/transcoder that cleans up the picture pretty well and I am happy with the results with 480p and 720p.

http://www.lenexpo-electronics.com/Line-Doublers-p-1-c-305.html

My problem was with jagged edges and hotspots and the "Atlona" does a pretty good job cleaning the picture and improving colors for a low price ,...

My problem was with jagged edges and hotspots and the "Atlona" does a pretty good job cleaning the picture and improving colors for a low price ,...
Huh. Looks like the "ATLONA VIDEO SCALER W/ HDMI OUTPUT" uses the same chip as the new gefen -- the list of features is identical.

You won't find anything under $1200 that can best the scaler in your Pioneer. The chip used in the Gefen HTS is the same chip used in <$1000 LCDs in Asia. It's not a premium part by any means.

If you have other alternatives to DirecTV, such as Comcast or Verizon FiOS, you would get far more picture improvement for your dollar by looking at those.

bfdtv,

Thanks. I figured as much, and I appreciate your frankness concerning this. Damn being an NFL fanatic though, as I am tied to DirecTV for a couple more years, at least until they drop the exclusivity of their NFL Sunday Ticket. :(

With the Atlona, would you say the impression is greater sharpness, and how about contrast? I have DirecTV SD running to my Panasonic AX100 projector.
Is the reason that SD cable looks better than SD satellite on LCD displays
the result of different compression techniques? Or is part of the problem in the DirecTV receiver itself? I never dreamed that having satellite over cable would actually put me at a disadvantage.

Is the reason that SD cable looks better than SD satellite on LCD displays
the result of different compression techniques?Both Dish Network and DirecTV downconvert their SD from 640x480 and 704x480 to 480x480. Both also downconvert their HDTV from 1920x1080 to 1280x1080. Dish and DirecTV degrade their channels in this way as it allows them to put more channels on their systems, i.e. quality is traded for quantity.

By comparison, most cable providers downconvert their digital channels from 640x480 to 528x480 or 544x480 (depending on the system). Some other smaller cable providers pass through the full 640x480 and 704x480 resolution, but that is more the exception than the norm. Even at a given resolution, compression levels vary widely from one provider to the next, and from one system to the next, so SD quality on the Comcast system in N. VA may be superior to the SD quality on the Comcast system in DC, even though both use the same 528x480 resolution. In general though, digital cable offers better SD quality than you get via satellite, and in some cases, superior quality.

Satellite wasn't always like this. Back when Dish and DirecTV first launched, they both used 640x480 for SD without downconversion. When both launched HD channels, they passed the full resolution and full-bitrate of those channels as well. Unfortunately, those days are long gone.

BFDTV:
Thank you for your most complete explanation. I always make hard copies of info like yours to use as reference.
I have the ability here to receive SD off-air signals from the Boston area. Aside from the usual analog artifacts, I suppose those would look vastly superior on my AX100U. (Assuming we are comparing "raw" SD DirecTV vs SD off-air with no further processing via a Gefen or other external scaler.)
I believe this explains why using a Gefen, Atlona or other scaler would be a lost cause with SD DirecTV, and why others have achieved poor results. But what advantages would occur if the Gefen or Atlona were used to process SD off-air, laserdisk or VHS? (I'd guess they'd benefit in that order, best to worst, no?)
Actually if I thought I'd get significant improvement with those three, the Gefen or Atlona might still be worth it. (Not rich enough for a DVDO!)
I'd appreciate your further thoughts, and thanks once again for your time!
Frank

All I can say is that the Atlona makes the picture from DN look alot better than the original sd broadcast ,
I am happy with the low cost solution and I believe that's the most important fact...

Actually if I thought I'd get significant improvement with those three, the Gefen or Atlona might still be worth it. (Not rich enough for a DVDO!)
I'd appreciate your further thoughts, and thanks once again for your time!The Gefen or Atlona might be an improvement over the video processing used in some cheap TVs. But it's not going to best the higher-quality video processing found in displays from Pioneer.

I have the ability here to receive SD off-air signals from the Boston area.Most Dish and DirecTV HD receivers have built-in ATSC (off-air digital) tuners.

All,

Presently, I have the following equipment feeding into my Pioneer Elite PRO-FHD1 via a Monoprice 5x1 HDMI switcher:

HD DVD Player: Toshiba HD-XA2
Blu-ray Disc Player: Pioneer Elite BDP-HD1 (this I am actually running directly into my display to work-around a 1080p/24Hz issue I have with Monoprice switcher)
Region-Free Player: Oppo DV-981HD
Satellite Receiver: DirecTV HR20-700

Currently, the HR20-700 is the weakest link, especially when watching SD broadcasts. Video processeors are a new area for me, and, while I have generally heard there is only so much that can be done with a bad source (i.e. DirecTV's SD feeds), I am wondering at what point would there be any benefit to adding a video processor into my setup? Will an entry-level unit like the Gefen Home Theater Scaler make a big enough difference with SD broadcasts to warrant a purchased, or are the feeds from DirecTV beyond hope? Would a more expensive video processor be able to do more with a poor feed, or would I be 'throwing away' my money?

Any input is appreciated.

Thanks.

I have a Pro 1140 with the HR20-700. I find D* SD to be very favorable as long as the HR20 outputs the signal as 480i. I had set up the HR20 telling it that my display accepted 720 and in Native mode it would output SD in that resolution which was very over processed. When I went back into setup and checked all of the resolution boxes it would pass 480 in Native and the picture was much better. If you know this, sorry, but it took me awhile to figure it out.

wensteph,

I appreciate the suggestion. I will give that a try.